Representations – Foreground and Background – any representation will relegate certain details to the background and emphasize others by putting them in the foreground. This isn’t bad, and even if it was, it is simply unavoidable. Are the relevant bits in the foreground?

Here is a series, complete for now, which deals with key mathematical ideas (made explicit and articulated in computer science) that are quite simple, important, but somehow never found their way into the normal math curriculum:

Key Math Ideas Not Taught In School – Invariants – when you do something that takes multiple steps, the natural inclination is to look at what is changing. Equally important is to look at what it is that stays the same. We specifically look at counting in this post.

Key Math Ideas Not Taught In School – Transactions – when something takes multiple steps, you need to keep track of things. Transactions provide a way to think about how you keep track of things along the way. A look at escrow and marriage ceremonies.